The Hunt

As they ventured into the forest Lucas followed close behind Stephen. Lucas had brought his sword and Stephen carried a bow in his left hand. They both moved in silence. Lucas tried to strike up a conversation a few times but it seemed Stephen was giving him the cold shoulder. It was strange. He thought they'd gotten past that. 

Making their way through the trees Lucas began to notice something was different about the forest. The trees were noticeably bigger. The foliage was also much thicker. It made traversing through the grasses much more difficult. Lucas realized it had been a small while since he'd actually gone into the forest but still, for so much to change in that timeframe seemed impossible.

Lucas couldn't really tell where Stephen was going. They seemed to just be delving deeper into the forest. They didn't follow any path but Stephen seemed to have a clear idea of where they were heading. They ducked branches and trudged through the foliage. Then as they were entering a particularly dense undergrowth, Stephen spoke.

"Stay calm." He warned. As he did, they continued to trudge through the bushes. Lucas didn't know what he meant but he realized it as soon as they cleared the undergrowth.

They entered a large open space, hidden within the forest. Walls of rock surround the area in a semicircle, forming a basin. Sunlight peered through the hole in the canopy, illuminating the grass beautifully. But what truly drew attention was the colossal bear monster that lay passed in the center of the basin. 

"Woah!" Lucas exclaimed, immediately reaching for his sword. 

"It's fine." Stephen said, stopping him. He then scooped a rock and lobbed it at the sleeping bear. The rock sailed through the air but when it hit the bear it bounced off the creature's fur like a pebble. The giant bear didn't move at all, seemingly unfazed by the rock. "He's been like that for months," Stephen said confidently. "He ain't waking up anytime soon."

"So why'd you bring me here." Lucas asked, still watching the sleeping monster closely. "Are we going to kill it in its sleep?" Stephen chuckled slightly at the absurdity of the idea before getting serious once more. 

"No, no. I came here to talk with you?" He said intently.

"You want to talk?" 

"Yeah," Stephen said. "No monsters come here so it makes a good place to stop." 

"Look I don't know what you want to talk about, but I'm all ears." Lucas said, taking a seat on a nearby rock. Stephen rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh. He was thinking of the best way to explain it. 

"I'm grateful to you, for helping us out, you know. I'm sure Rua is too. She still has this notion that if we get strong enough we can fight back. That's part of why she goes on her expeditions. I bet she's hoping to find more folks like you. Band together you know and push back." Stephen shook his head. "You're a knight, right?"

"Did Rua tell you?" 

"Yeah," Stephen paused. "You know, when Yerva was attacked, a lot of knights abandoned their posts. The ones meant to fight for the city and its people deserted us the moment we needed it the most." Lucas was unsure how to respond. He could tell that Stephen had a lot of pent up. He continued on.

"I've known Rua for a pretty long time. I know she always looked up to knights. I bet she thinks now that you're here we can mount some sort of resistance. That's why she's been having you teach us how to use mana. And I'm grateful for that, don't get me wrong." Stephen looked Lucas in the eyes. "I need to know that you'll fight. I just don't believe that when it comes time, you won't run off to save your own skin." 

So that was it. Lucas mulled over how to convince him. It was then that he came to a conclusion. He stood up and walked over to the large ursine monster, his sword drawn. 

"What are you doing?" Stephen asked, panic creeping into his voice. Lucas raised his sword high above the monster's head.

"Fighting."

He then brought his blade down on the monster's head. Instead of going through however the sharp metal bounced off sending sparks flying from the impact. As Lucas rebounded, the monster's eyes shot open. As the beast quickly lifted into the air Lucas took a big step back. 

The giant bear let out an echoing roar as its giant paw swiped forwards. In that moment Lucas instantly regretted not bringing his shield as he lifted his left arm out of instinct. The creature swipe hit him dead on and he was sent flying into the basin wall.

"LUCAS!" Stephen cried out. He was quick to react, drawing his bow and notching an arrow. He pulled back and fired, aiming in the area between the monster's eyes. The arrow flew through the air hitting its target but bouncing off like it had hit a slab metal. The giant bear was unfazed and charged toward Stephen, almost trying to pounce on him. Stephen dove, just barely rolling under the beast. He then jumped to the side and readied another arrow. He could feel his reactions had improved. He felt faster.

"THE EYES!" He heard Lucas yell out as he recovered from the hit. Stephen listened to his advice and let his arrow fly, this time aiming for the creature's right eye. It once again hit its target, this time puncturing deep. The creature let out a painful wail and stumbled back. Lucas got up and sprinted past Stephen. It was his turn.

The creature noticed Lucas coming and swiped forward with his claws. Lucas, moving insanely quick, ducked the attack and then proceeded to leap forward with all he had. He brought his sword down and plunged it into the beast's skull. It sank deep but the creature was not dead. It reared up wildly, shaking its head to throw Lucas off. It was in great pain and tossed its head from side to side in desperate throws. Then the beast went back to all fours and suddenly rushed forward, crashing into the foliage. It built up great speed pushing through the woodland. Lucas tried his best to hold on but he began slipping. The monster moved wildly, crashing into small trees and brambles. 

Finally just as he was about to slip, Lucas withdrew his sword. In a controlled fall, he slid down the monster's head, sinking his sword into its open maw. The blade pressed causing the charging beast to veer to the side.

-CRASH!-

With a sudden crash the monster slammed its head into a massive tree. Lucas was crushed between the two and the monster collapsed onto the floor, overtaken by its injuries.

"Ughhh.." Lucas groaned as he lay broken against the tree, the bloodied bear head right beside him. Just like always his body began mending and he felt the painful heat that came with it.

"My god! Are you okay!?" Stephen shouted as he caught up and saw Lucas up against the tree.

"I'm fine." Lucas told him as he got up. Although he still hurt his body was already fixing itself at an alarming rate. Right now he definitely looked worse than he actually was. His clothes which were somewhat clean before were now soaked in blood. Still Lucas felt as his body absorbed the giant bear's mana. It was a strange phenomena that Lucas still couldn't explain. He looked to the dead bear and then to Stephen.

"Pretty good for the first hunt, right."

*****

The children cheered when Stephen came back. They died down however when Lucas showed up behind him, though that probably had something to do with being covered in blood. Together they brought in parts of the bear. It was simply too big to bring inside so they left a lot of it outside the cave. Besides being food, it was obvious that its hide, which seemed as tough as metal, could be used.

When Lucas and Stephen explained the situation to Rua she congratulated them on hunting such a big creature. Unfortunately it seemed like a lot of the meat would end up spoiling but nonetheless it would be able to feed everyone.

As the night drew near Lucas decided to go for a walk outside the cave. No one else went with him. He wanted to check on a thought he had earlier. 

He didn't go that far before stopping. He walked over and put his hand to one of the trees. It had been quite a long time since he'd been to Fayroot forest but in his memory it was nothing like this. He closed his eyes and for a moment he felt nothing. Then he noticed it. Mana was flowing through these trees. 

That confirmed his theory. Their environment was being warped by the excess mana. Although he didn't know how or why he knew something was changing. As he walked back his thoughts weighed him down. He pondered what it meant and how they would survive in a changing world. Were they meant to keep hiding. And if the monster kept getting stronger how long could they keep up. Suddenly just as he was about to reach the cave, he stopped.

There, hidden behind a bush, viewing the cave was a small gray creature. It had a singular horn protruding from its head and wore human-like clothes. 

A demon!

The demon didn't seem to notice Lucas as it whispered something under its breath. In front of it formed a floating blue sigil before quickly dissipating. The demon then turned to flee but stopped.

He was seen!